April 14, 2003

Contact: Kathy Rose-Mockry, Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center, (785) 864-3552.

KU program April 15 to honor outstanding women

LAWRENCE -- Outstanding women in the University of Kansas community will be recognized at the Annual Women's Recognition Program, to be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, in the Big 12 Room of the Kansas Union. The keynote speaker will be Julie A. Robinson, U.S. district judge. A biography of Robinson can be found below. A reception will follow the program.

Outstanding female students will be honored for their unique contributions to women, to KU or to the community. Female leaders also will be inducted into the KU Women's Hall of Fame, a KU tradition since 1970. This year's Hall of Fame inductees are:

Joyce Castle, professor of music and dance
Mary Lee Hummert, interim vice provost of student support
Martha Langley, financial director, Hilltop Child Development Center
Toni-Marie Montgomery, dean of fine arts
Cora Lee Beers Price, former assistant professor of classics

In addition to the Hall of Fame, the following individuals will be honored:

Outstanding Woman Student in Athletics: Margaret Mason
Outstanding Woman Student in Community Service: Lea Burgess Carland
Outstanding International Woman Student: Jihyun Kim
Outstanding Nontraditional Woman Student: Marian Hukle
Outstanding Woman Student in Leadership: Aramis Watson and Fouzia Haq
Outstanding Woman Student in Partnership: Jessica St. Clair
Outstanding Woman Staff Member: Katherine Pryor
Outstanding Woman Educator: Elizabeth Asiedu and Adrianne Kunkel
Sally Frost Mason -- Outstanding Woman Student in the Biological Sciences: Tanya Stoyanova

Also being honored will be Outstanding Women in Organized Living Groups, as well as the Alma Poehler Brook award recipients, which recognizes outstanding women in Gertrude Sellards Pearson and Corbin residence halls. All of the recipients and women nominated have been invited to attend. RSVPs are appreciated and can be made by calling 864-3552.

The Women's Recognition Program is sponsored by the Commission on the Status of Women and the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center at KU. For more information regarding the program, contact the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center at (785) 864-3552.

Judge Julie A. Robinson
Robinson, a KU law school graduate, was appointed in 2001 by President George W. Bush as a U.S. district judge for Kansas. She is the first African-American woman and the second woman to be appointed to this position in Kansas. Prior to this appointment, Robinson served as a U.S. bankruptcy judge for the District of Kansas, judge on the 10th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, and assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Kansas (also designated as the senior litigation counsel). Before these appointments, she served as a law clerk to Benjamin E. Franklin, chief bankruptcy judge, Kansas. Robinson has taught trial practice at the KU School of Law and is a past president of the school's board of governors. She is a Kansas fellow, American Bar Foundation; is a member of both the American and Kansas bar associations; and sits on many boards and committees. She is very active in her church, facilitates workshops on racial reconciliation and serves as a member of the South Africa mission team, as well as other ministries.